Centre Pompidou-MetzProject Beginnings

Two ambitions in one project

The Centre Pompidou-Metz is a story of encounters.An encounter between the Centre Pompidou and local government bodies, ensuring the necessary funding for the Centre Pompidou-Metz in an unprecedented partnership.An encounter between the public and the 76,000 works of art from the collection of the Centre Pompidou, Musée national d’art moderne.And finally an encounter between a region and its European vocation of expression through culture.

Two ambitions

The ambition of the Centre Pompidou, an institution of international renown, whose priorities feature the pursual of its vocation as a centre of exchange between society and creation, the winning over of new publics, and the continuation of its mission to make national collections available to the public throughout France.

And the ambition of local government bodies who, right from the start, supported the project. Set in the heart of a European region, Metz quickly demonstrated its ability and willingness for cultural development. As for local government bodies, they were convinced that development of a region implied enhancement of its cultural assets. The Centre Pompidou-Metz was to prove a decisive factor in the notoriety and reputation of Metz and the Lorraine region.

One and the same aim

The Centre Pompidou-Metz was created with these twin regional and European ambitions in mind. France’s first example of cultural decentralisation of a national public establishment, the Centre Pompidou-Metz opened its doors to the public on May 12th, 2010. It was inaugurated by the President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, on May 11th. In the terms of Alain Seban, President of the Centre Pompidou-Metz, this unique cultural establishment is no mere replica of the Centre Pompidou, but a projection of it.